The series was won by The Wanted band member Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani on 19 December. McGuiness became the first celebrity since Louis Smith in series 10 to win the show without falling into the bottom two dance-off during the series, as well being the first since Kara Tointon in series 8 to win without achieving a perfect 40 score during the competition. Vilani also became the first professional in the show's history to win the show for a second time, after previously winning with Harry Judd in series 9. This series also saw long standing professional Anton du Beke reach the final for the first time, with Katie Derham, and Kevin Clifton becoming the first professional dancer to reach three consecutive finals.

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On 23 April 2015, the list of professionals who were returning for the thirteenth series was revealed. Professionals from the last series who will not return include Trent Whiddon and Iveta Lukosiute. Robin Windsor, who did not return last series due to an injury, will also not return for this series, though it was revealed that he will be involved in the spin-off show It Takes Two. Alongside Windsor, Joanne Clifton too will be involved in the spin off, and appear in the Children in Need and Christmas specials later in 2015. She will also be taking part in the group dances during the series. Three new professional dancers were introduced: Russian dancer Gleb Savchenko (from the American, Australian, and Russian versions of Dancing with the Stars), South African dancer Oti Mabuse (from Germany's Let's Dance) replaced Iveta Lukosiute and Italian dancer Giovanni Pernice Replaced Trent Whiddon & Robin Windsor.[3]

On 10 August 2015, broadcaster Jeremy Vine was the first celebrity announced for the series,[4] with more celebrities being revealed throughout the month. The lineup was completed on 27 August 2015 on The One Show.[5]